Script written somewhere else: BSP's Danish Ali on Lok Sabha ethics panel report row

BSP MP Danish Ali alleged on Friday that BJP leader Nishikant Dubey was aware of the contents of the Lok Sabha ethics panel report on the ''cash-for-query'' charge against TMC's Mahua Moitra and said the details becoming public even before the document was tabled in Parliament shows that the ''script had been written somewhere else''.

Lok Sabha's Ethics Committee Chairman Vinod Kumar Sonkar has submitted the report of the panel on the ''cash-for-query'' allegation against Moitra to the office of Speaker Om Birla, sources said on Friday.

The committee, at a meeting on Thursday, adopted by majority the report that recommended the Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader's expulsion from the House for accepting ''illegal gratifications'' from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to raise questions in Parliament at his behest.

Speaking on the developments in the matter, Ali said, ''It seems that Nishikant Dubey (the complainant) is the most knowledgeable person in this Lok Sabha. He gets to know about confidential reports and things like how many times log-in was done beforehand and tweets about it too.'' The report has not even been tabled and its contents have been revealed, he alleged.

''Who is responsible for this? The chairman of the ethics committee is violating rule 275 (of the rules of procedure in the Lok Sabha), while BJP members of the committee are giving television interviews. Nishikant Dubey, who is not even a member of the committee, is tweeting all confidential reports,'' Ali claimed.

''I am a member of the committee and cannot say what has been decided by it.... We have given dissent notes and said what we wanted to,'' he told PTI.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader said the verbatim record is not complete, which should be done.

''Everything is coming out in the open, which shows that the script had been written somewhere else,'' he alleged.

Rule 275 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha deals with the confidentiality of the proceedings of parliamentary committees.

The committee has recommended Moitra's expulsion from the Lok Sabha for ''unethical conduct'' and ''contempt of the House''.

Six of the 10 members present at the committee meeting on Thursday voted in support of the 479-page report, while four opposition members recorded their disapproval.